Isabel Shepard Prologue
by Pachouli
Summary: Reviews/criticisms would be greatly appreciated. This will stray from canon, so expect it rather than be bothered by it. Rated M for language, battle scenes and later suggestive themes. Rather be safe than sorry. Will include a little Shenko later.
1. Chapter 1

_Thanks so much to the wonderful Biff McLaughlin for her wonderful beta and ideas! It is greatly appreciated! I sincerely hope that you all enjoy._

**_x ~ X ~ x_**

Inevitably it happens; whether you like it or not, things change. You hope for the best. I mean, who wouldn't? But often, the best is just exactly what it is … wishful thinking or what you _hope_ for and nearly always _never_ get. My story is difficult at best. Good times, bad times, let's just say that there were a _lot_ of bad times, but these are what make you grow, even make you stronger; or so _they_ say. Funny that. I've always wondered exactly who_ they_ are? Haven't you? Anyway, that's the way of life for all people, I guess. But I will say that I do feel content with where my story led me, for good and ill. There _are_ things I may have changed could I have rewound time to do so, but I have to wonder if I would have met the same end? Somehow I don't think so, since after all, we are the sum total of all experiences and decisions we have made throughout our too short lives, are we not? Perhaps one different decision could have changed everything for better or for the worst. I think I've had about enough of the worst for one lifetime, but it's still certainly something to think on at least. This is the story of all of my life's twists and turns, no matter how small and insignificant they may have seemed, or how large and profound they appeared to be_. My_ life, _me_, formally known as Isabel or as I've been known by those closest to me, the very ones who ended up shaping my life every bit as profoundly as I had shaped theirs, Izz, Izzy and occasionally even Shep. Only _once_ was I known as _Lola_, but let's just forget _that_ ever happened. I wasn't _always_ the commander you know. Once a long time ago, I was just a happy, young girl with things to do and people to see. Let's see where hoping for the best and Fate landed me.

_**x ~ X ~ x**_

Isabel Shepard stood in front of the mirror, freshly showered with a days' worth of sweat and weariness washed away. It was 6:30pm, and even though she'd been up since 4 am, she still wanted to spend time with her friends here in town. It was a Friday night after all and tomorrow planting season started. There would be no way to get away for the next week or two to just hang out. She looked at her thick, red, shoulder length hair and let out a dramatic sigh as she started to French braid it quickly. It didn't do anything she wanted, dry or wet. The braid was usually the easiest solution. Still looking in the mirror, she took in her white tank top, loose fit jeans that probably actually did more for her shape than anything tight and skinny would have and herself in general. Not the most enticing teenager on Mindoir that was for sure, but she liked to think she at least had a good sense of humor. With her telltale crooked grin, she sat down long enough to slip her feet into her favorite grungy looking hiking boots, not even bothering to tie them as she left the locker room of the martial arts center where she took wushu classes.

"I'm outta here, Big D, and the women's locker room is clear," she called out loudly as she headed towards the front door.

"Oh, Izz… thanks for helping with the two new students. Not sure why you still come here since you already know there isn't any more I can teach you, but having you here to assist _is_ a big help," her instructor, Derek, said as he swept a hand through his black hair and grinned.

And there it was, that _sexy_ grin. Well, that's what she and every other female in the class called it; but never when he was within hearing of course. It made knees wobble and melt, like hers, _right_ now. Those big brown puppy dog eyes you could fall into didn't help either. She felt her own lopsided grin in answer. "No problem, big D," Izzy said with a shrug. "I always learn more when we spar, anyway… much as I'd _love_ to stay and chat; I have places to go and people to see." She was walking out the door backwards as she gave him a mock salute to his chuckle. After she turned to walk away, she couldn't help thinking that staying to talk more with Derek would definitely not have been a bad thing. She still wasn't entirely used to him teaching since his father retired, but it sure was nice to be able to ogle him every day. Still, she _did_ have plans, _sort_ of. She did turn and look back to see he was leaning against the door with his arms crossed watching her, and with another of her grins she waved at him, turned again and started a slow lazy lope towards where she was meeting her friends.

**x ~ X ~ x**

Izzy came bounding through the door of the little café where they had decided to meet. "Hey guys," she greeted the guy and girl waiting on her, even as she grabbed Mike in a headlock and rubbed her knuckles across his head.

"Damn it, Izz… cut it out," Mike said as they all started laughing and he swiped her away with his arm.

"Spoil sport," she razzed as she ruffled Mike's chestnut colored hair one last time and sat down to finally tie the laces on her boots. "Brittany! About time you could join us. I swear you're _always_ babysitting that kid," Izz added with her lopsided grin.

"Yeah yeah… Shepard. Coming from you that _is_ pretty funny. Not like you're not running, working on that farm, or in doing that karate stuff when you're not in school," Britt smiled even as she chided. "I do have to go soon, though. You know … the whole _babysitting_ thing. Talitha is a cute kid. I really don't mind so much." After some hesitation she added, "How did you do on the heraldry genealogy thing we had to research for class?"

"Fair enough," Izz admitted with a chuckle. "The heraldry thing… well, the Shepard coat of arms is white and red and not very ascetically pleasing. Not to my eye anyway. It had this cool phrase in Latin though, 'fide en virtute' which means 'by fidelity and valour'." She gave a shrug and a somewhat serious look. "I could think of worse words to live by. I added a picture of the coat of arms and traced my father's genealogy back to England in the 1600's. My mother obviously comes from an Irish background…" she said as she rolled her eyes and made a sweeping motion with arms in acknowledgement of herself. Red hair, pale skin that doesn't tan easily, freckles and green eyes. "I got an A, how about you guys?"

Everyone traded grades and Izzy finally had to ask, "I thought Erik and Tami were meeting us here too. What happened to them?"

Britt winced before speaking quietly to avoid being overheard by others around them. "He and Tam had a real row today … seriously bad. They split, again."

"Huh." Isabel grunted as she stood up and stretched. "Aren't _all_ their rows sort of serious? They fight more than I do in my wushu class." She grinned at Mike as he chuckled in agreement before adding, "Let's walk Britt to her sitting job and see what else there is to do cool?"

**x ~ X ~ x**

After dropping Britt off at her babysitting job, Mike suggested that they go see who was at the park in the middle of town so they headed that way laughing joking and overall having fun. But suddenly out of the blue Mike surprised her. "Why don't you date, Isabel?"

"Uh … well … where the _hell_ did that come from, Mike? And since when do you talk about that kind of stuff? And since when do you get all serious on me and use my given name?" Izz couldn't help but look at him like he was an alien. "I thought you and Britt were doing great together and besides, I'm not into blond, blue eyed guys or even light brown and hazel eyed guys for that matter. I know you've heard Britt, Tam, and I talk."

Mike just shook his head and rolled his eyes. "That's exactly my point, Izz."

With a heavy sigh Izz rubbed her forehead as she thought, '_Oy vey, why me?_' before pinching the bridge of her nose between two fingers. "Ok, Mike… hit me with it and just get it over with, alright?"

"You know Derek watches you during class, don't you? He's only 4 years older than you, Izz, _and_ he's _got_ to be right up your ally… those dark looks and all…"

Izz cut him off, "Of course he watches me. He watches everyone, _idiot_, he's our instructor. Besides he spends more one on one time with Lisbeth, or hadn't _you_ noticed? He's not interested in a long legged weedy average looking girl like me when he could have that one. _She's_ beautiful." After a pause, she added in a pained tone, "You know … I really don't want to talk about this. Can we just change the subject and forget this conversation ever happened?" Mike had touched a nerve; she knew that he probably knew it too.

"Sure, Izz," he added gently. "Just think about it…" He sat next to her on the park bench and with a jerk knocked his shoulder playfully into hers. He was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief that he had been forgiven his intrusion when she bumped her shoulder back into his with a grin.

"Since it's only us, you feel like sparring for a bit?" Izz asked as she wiggled her eyebrows playfully at him.

"Yeah, but only if you promise _not_ to kick my ass, woman. I've seen you spar with Big D remember," he said with a laugh.

They sparred for a couple hours, mostly goofing around, but Izz gave him some direction and ideas for smoother flow and better blocks.

"Do I get to join in or is this a closed circle?" asked a warm deep voice that sent shivers down her spine.

Even as Izz heard the voice behind her she saw Mike grin. Big D…. Derek. What was he _doing_ here? Izz turned slowly, even as she felt her face redden because of Mike's earlier comments. "Uhm … sure, you can join in. Why don't you show Mike what he's doing wrong. He doesn't listen to me." Izz sat down on the park bench and watched as Derek eyed her curiously. For half an hour Derek sparred and worked with Mike before he suddenly laughed. It was a deep, warm, full bodied sound that sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine.

"I don't think he listens to me either, Izz. We'll have to show him," he said as he walked over to the park bench and pulled her off it by her hand, not letting go until he had her in their make shift sparring circle. "Let's show him how it's done."

Isabel and Derek stood in the middle of the circle, outside edge of their right feet touching, in a ready stance, putting them nearly sideways to each other. They both had more weight on the back foot even as they held their left hand in a blocking position and crossed the back of their right wrists with each other. She held her hand open while Derek used a fist. It was a difference in style preference. He preferred the use of closed fist more often and Izz tended to use open fist more often. Really, the style of fist used usually was dictated by the strength of the target. If it was soft, like the stomach, you used a closed fist, Derek tended to go after soft parts. He was more about _finishing_ the opponent as quickly as possible. If the target was hard, say the chest with all that bone behind it, open fist was presumed better. It was certainly less painful to put a good hit on the chest with a palm than a fist. This was Izzy's preference. She actually wasn't that into fighting as far as fighting goes. She learned so that she didn't have to, and there you would find where her preference was. Open fist allowed her to strike hard and fast to make an opponent back away, or to grapple their arm and send them away from her with another palm in the middle of the back, pure defense. That is mostly what she used. Derek told her that one day that might change, but she didn't believe him. She looked Derek in the eyes as was appropriate. You _never_ took your eyes off your opponent. Not that she would want to look away. His eyes were beautiful, warm, and inviting. In her distraction, she almost missed his move.

His arm swung and she blocked with her palm even as she swung for him and was blocked. There were a few quick steps as she backed him up a little, before she got a good palm shot to his chest causing him to step back three steps and look at her in surprise. "Alright, that's more like it. Now it's on." Derek said with a huge smile, coming at her with a forward kick she easily blocked with her left palm. She immediately went into a whirlwind kick that Derek ducked under only to come up and meet her foot with his chest from her flying front kick. "Damn Izz… you been holding out on me?" he asked with obvious surprise. Mike only laughed before indicating he was going to talk to another group of teens nearby.

"Uh… no… I'm just forcing a little more focus," she said, since she was _seriously_ forcing focus at the moment. She gave Mike a wave of acknowledgment, but being alone with Derek just made her more nervous. It was alright to be distracted by him at class since so many other people also had his attention, but right now, one on one, it was hard. It was _really_ hard.

"More focus ," he said sounding doubtful. "I guess I can accept that … for now." And then he gave that grin that sent trembles through her.

Next thing Izz knew, she was lying on the ground on her back looking up at the darkening sky through the tree branches and leaves. Her green eyes were wide with shock as she tried to catch her breath.

"Ooh, shit!" Derek exclaimed as he reached down to grab her forearm. "I am soooo sorry, Isabel." he said with a worried tone.

She was surprised as she was pulled up and caught suddenly against his chest, his arms steadying her. Once her breathing came slow and steady, she laughed. Not the infamous half smile she usually gave with its chuckle, but a full out smile and deep laugh coming from deep in her chest. She tried to move away since she was on her feet, and had her breath back, but Derek just held her tighter. Her heart nearly stopped quicker than her laughter when she heard him quietly ask, "Go out with me sometime, Izzy, just for an evening, a week, a year. I don't care … just … go out with me." She hesitated, knowing this was what she had wanted, even hoped for, as she felt his fingers gently grip her chin and lift her eyes to his as he asked again. "Please?" After a pause he gave her that dangerous grin and added, "Your eyes are so beautiful. Such a bright shade of green with little gold flecks."

Izz swallowed hard before replying, "Ok." She smiled up at him and gave him a quirky grin, "I'll go out with you." She wondered if he had any idea how nice it was to actually look up at a guy, since she was taller than a lot of the boys in her class. She thought he might kiss her, but he didn't, much to her chagrin. Instead he let her go, turned around and said, "hop up." So with another laugh she hopped up on his back for a piggy back ride. They went as far as the bench and she laughed as he turned to let her slide off his back onto the bench and joined her, with their shoulders and thighs touching. She decided to be brave and took his hand in hers, lacing her fingers gently with his. His answering smile was worth it.

For about an hour they talked, joked and laughed quietly before Izz thought she heard firecrackers going off in the distance. There weren't any celebrations going on, so it was out of place, and Mike and the others were nowhere to be seen anymore. "Fireworks? Seriously?" She said hesitantly as she looked around. Something was wrong; even the insects seemed to be holding their breath.

Derek sensed the same thing and whispered, "Wait here."

Izz just snorted softly, "Huh, not on your life," as she followed him quietly. He seemed to be staying to cover. She did the same, trying to move as quietly as possible, when she saw Mike and the others he had gone with. They were on the ground, and still. Too still. Her heart jumped into her throat as she scrambled to his side and turned him over to find he was bleeding and no longer breathing. The little color she had drained from her face even as she looked at the blood on her hand and a tear streaked down her cheek.

"Izz we gotta go, now!" Derek whispered urgently in her ear. She just couldn't seem to move.

"What's happening, Derek? This can't be … he can't be …" Izz struggled with what her mind didn't want to acknowledge. She snapped back to reality even as she heard more fireworks, still distant.

"Izz that wasn't fireworks, that's gunfire. We _have_ to go. We're not safe here. They're too close." Derek whispered desperately.

She grabbed the hand that Derek held out to her and they ran, staying to the shadows. She was wondering how they could have been missed, yet Mike wasn't, as another tear streaked down her cheek.

It was as they turned around the corner of a building, as they left the park, that Derek slammed into one of two Batarians. Izz couldn't help thinking he was amazing as he immediately dropped into a leg sweep. The Batarian he had run into fell backwards with a loud, "Ooooompf," as the air was forced out of his lungs. Quickly, Derek punched hard with his fist into his adversary's neck, crushing the Batarians windpipe and killing him. He was just starting to face Izzy's opponent when something hit him in the chest with enough force to throw him to the ground.

Meanwhile, the second Batarian was bringing up his pistol as Isabel ran forward to snap a kick with both feet into his chest, pushing off him to flip backwards. She hung upside down in a momentary handstand before landing in a crouched position facing her opponent. The pistol retorted with a loud crack as he flew backwards. It was obvious he landed wrong by the snap she heard as he landed. He didn't move again.

"Come on, we have to go." She said as she moved to crouch by the two Batarians. She grabbed the one's pistol and his sniper rifle. She didn't really know how to use either, but she would learn. It was only when she heard a wheezing behind her that she turned around to find Derek on the ground bleeding from his chest. "Oh my god, NO!" she gasped in horror as she rushed to his side. Tears streaked down her face as he set his palm against her cheek.

"Izz…," he whispered as he took her hand and kissed her palm before balling it into a fist to kiss her knuckles. She nodded in understanding. "Don't go, Derek… please…" her voice sounded gruff to her own ears with trying to hold back the sobs.

Laying his hand over her heart he whispered in a hoarse, pained wheeze, "Don't let this change you… protect, but protect fiercely. Stay good… I could have loved you easily…"

"Don't talk, Derek…" she leaned down and softly kissed his lips. When she next looked into his eyes they were staring blankly. She felt numb as she closed his eyes, brushed her fingers along his cheek bone, kissed him again, and got up. She needed to get out of town and get home. She looked down at Derek one last time, realizing he was her first love. "I will _never_ forget you," she whispered as she turned and tried to make her way out of town as quietly as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

Isabel stood with her back flush against the wall of a building, her breathing slow and steady in her emotional numbness. She didn't feel tired after being awake for so long, with the adrenaline flowing through her system, and she wasn't sad or angry; she felt nothing. Slowly, she leaned to turkey peek around the corner to see another colonist startle in surprise as he saw her. He remained silent, though; _smart man_. As Isabel eased around the corner, she showed him the sniper she had picked up and tossed it to him as he nodded that he could use it. She couldn't use it effectively, yet; someday that was going to change she resolved in her mind. She gave the man a tacit nod of acknowledgement by raising her chin slightly. Quietly, she then moved towards the edge of town. She still had the pistol she had picked up, tucked safely in her belt at the small of her back. Out of her way if she needed to move fast, but easily accessible.

As Isabel moved through the large town, she could still hear screams, though they seemed fewer. More gunfire, some explosions, and she could smell the smoke from fires in areas hit by grenades or worse. Occasionally, the bursts would create an eerie flare from between the buildings in the dark of the night. It looked surreal. At least with the noise the attackers made, it was easy to avoid them, and after about an hour of careful maneuvering, she came to the edge of town. She looked at the open area that she would have to pass through in order to get to the cover of the trees nearby. The full moon also shone brightly, and it was going to be her biggest problem by far getting out of the city. If she waited a moment, the cloud cover would be over the moon, and she should be mostly hidden as she sprinted for the trees. Looking around she found a dark corner where she could still see the moon and crouched down to rest in the darkness, her knees pulled up to her chin, and her arms wrapped around them. She closed her eyes, but that only lasted a moment before she snapped them open wide. All she could see were Mike and Derek as she last saw them. Her jaw clenched tighter as she clamped down on the first emotion she felt since walking away from Derek's body. Pain would get her nowhere right now. Anger, however, might. It would sharpen her focus, allow her to do what needed to be done, in theory anyway. This was not the kind of thing she had any experience with. She unclasped her hands and raised a hand to make a fist in front of her face. "You were right, Derek. It did change," she whispered softly to herself.

As soon as the moon disappeared behind the clouds, Isabel got to her feet and took a careful look around her. Seeing nothing in sight, she sprinted across the open area. Within moments, she heard yells and loud cracks of gunfire in the night. '_Damn__, they are watching close_,' she thought. She was already running as fast as she possibly could, but tried to push herself faster, as a burning sensation spread across her left bicep. While it seemed to take forever, she finally plunged into the trees, dodging through the sparse tall plants as quickly as possible, knowing pursuit might not be far behind. She did glance at her arm, but since it seemed to be a scratch, she kept going. It would be 20 miles to the farm, so after what she considered a substantial head start, she slowed her pace and settled into long, steady strides while trying to keep her breathing as even as possible. She knew she would need to conserve some energy. It was a long way to run, so after a few miles of jogging she would slow to a steady walk.

The sky was lightening as the sun started to peek over the horizon and she gazed out of the trees at her home. There was a mile wide stretch of open area that stood between them. Her eyes closed momentarily as she inhaled deeply of the slightly damp, musty, metallic, sweet smell of recently tilled earth. It smelled of home and she felt herself relax a little. The air still held its early morning chill as she felt a breeze caress her sweat dampened skin, sending a shiver through her as goose pimples formed. After some time mulling through the advantages and disadvantages of waiting, she finally decided that there was no way she was waiting until night fall. Isabel stood at the last tree between her and the open field and listened. The leaves above her whispered in the breeze, insects chirped, and small animals rustled through the underbrush within the tree line. There was no gunfire, explosions, or screams, only an eerie silence when the sound of a heavy combine tractor scattering the seeds along the tilled channels of earth _should_ have filled the morning air. Her chest tightened painfully as a deep foreboding overcame her. Ducking as low to the ground as she comfortably could, while still moving at a decent clip, Isabel made her way towards the farm house. Occasionally, she stumbled on the rows of dirt across her path, but she quickly used her hands to balance herself again.

When she got to the yard, she could see the front door was ajar, the body of a Batarian lying right in front of it. She stayed low as she moved to the body and checked for a pulse. None, that was good. Mentally she cringed at her callousness, but it meant her parents had defended. There was a chance, no matter how slight, that they might still be alive. No sounds came from within, which was not necessarily a good sign, so she slowly pushed the door open and entered. The place was a complete mess. Things were torn apart; nothing was hanging straight on the walls, if it had even managed to remain there.

"This is not so good," she murmured to herself as dread set in.

There was only one place her parents might have hidden. She moved through the house, over and around broken furniture and keepsakes, and out of the back to the cellar doors. They were open, so she slowly made her way down the stairwell. Bodies were strewn everywhere. Eight Batarians lay dead, in a massive pool of blood. Her parents lay next to the wall, both still holding shotguns, staring blankly in her direction. The thing that captivated her attention most was their hands. They gripped their rifles with one and each other's hand with the other. She didn't know how long she stood there and stared before she finally startled back to reality. There was a lump in her throat she couldn't quite swallow as she finally moved to them, crouched and gently closed their eyes. She would have sworn that they were sleeping but for their pallor. She kissed their foreheads, removed the shotguns from their hands, and set them aside. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hold back the tears and sobbed as she lifted her mother's inert form to her chest and hugged her tightly.

"I'm so sorry, mum, I should have been here, maybe if I had been … maybe if I had come home sooner …" It was some time later when Isabel carefully picked up her mother's slight form and carried it upstairs. It was difficult, with tears blurring her vision, but eventually she set her mother's body down gently in the only somewhat clear space there was on the living room floor. Isabel went back for her father who was a large, burly man. Getting him upstairs was going to be a challenge. Crouching down, she pulled him up over her shoulders, in a fireman's lift. With a deep groan, she strained to get back to her feet under his weight. After a lot of struggle, her father's body was laid next to her mother's. She sat down next to him and just clasped his hand tightly in hers.

"I miss you two so much already. Amazing, isn't it?" Her voice was no louder than a choked whisper. "You could spend a week in the same house with someone without saying a word and think nothing of it. Yet, knowing you can never talk to someone again, or hear their voice makes the emptiness so complete that you can't help feel the hollow space it leaves. Silence is _nothing_ but wasted time. Shit, dad, couldn't you just wake me up and tell me this is all a bad dream?"

Hollow, that was exactly what she felt. As if everything inside had shattered and left only a deep, dark, void of emptiness. It may have been less than a day since she had seen them both, but it already felt like an eternity. When her tears were finally exhausted, she set his hand back down on his chest. Too much time had already been spent here, under the circumstances, but she still needed to gather a few things.

Clothes, she would obviously need clothes, so she headed upstairs to her room. When she entered, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in her mirror. A ghost stared back at her. The wide, haunted green saucers that were swollen and rimmed in red, held depths of pain behind them as they stared back at a face as pale as her parents had last been. There was a large patch of blood across the chest of her tank top, some across her shoulders and even in her hair. More had run down her left arm. There was also a smear of blood across the cheek. She slowly raised her hand to feel it with her fingertips. Dry. Then she remembered Derek had set his hand on her cheek. As she stood there frozen for many long moments, the images of those she lost ran through her mind and she gasped at the pain they brought on. She would have cried again, but there weren't any more tears, at least not yet. Either way, she had to get rid of the blood, all of it. She undid her braid, and violently ripped off clothing leaving it lie where she dropped it, as she raced for the shower.

Isabel turned on the hot water and hissed at the tingly, itchy feeling that the hot water created on her almost instantly pink skin as she stepped into the shower. Taking a generous amount of shampoo, she scrubbed at her hair and scalp until it hurt, then did the same with her body wash. It felt as if she were taking her skin off she rubbed so hard, yet she still didn't feel clean. Her left arm had started to burn anew from the heat and soap which made her reconsider how hurt it might actually be. As the water started to chill, she turned off the faucet, stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. She brushed her teeth quickly, rinsed the tooth brush, and then listened. The house was, thankfully, still silent. The score across her upper arm was a little bit more than a scratch and was red and puffy at the edges. It went deep enough that it probably needed stitches. Opening a small cabinet, she grabbed the last of the Omni-gel and some small butterfly bandages, which she used to hold the open edges of skin together as much as possible. A layer of the gel was added for protection, and she finally wrapped that with a gauze bandage using medical tape to hold it in place. It would have to do. There would probably be a scar though.

As she headed back to her room, she dropped her toothbrush and the toothpaste on the bed along with her shampoo and shower gel. Next, she pulled out a backpack from the floor of her closet and threw it onto her mussed bed. From within her chest of drawers, she pulled out several changes of clothes as well as under garments and tossed them next to the pack before pulling on darker clothing that would help camouflage her. With her hair still twisted up in the towel, she went downstairs to grab a plastic trash bag and two other smaller plastic bags. Isabel needed to keep her clean changes dry and protected, so she quickly stuffed the clothes and other supplies into the bags, and shoved them into the pack. Who knew how long she might have to last on her own out there. Even the simplest of supplies couldn't hurt.

Isabel sat on her bed, trying to think through what else she might need, as she glanced at her nightstand and stared at the picture there. She had just graduated in her wushu class to a black sash when it was taken. Mike had taken the picture; her parents stood on either side of her and Derek stood next to her petite mother. She grabbed the Omni tool that lay beside it, and it was only moments before she had it equipped, and the picture from the nightstand uploaded. She remembered when her father had first laughed at her wanting an omni-tool, saying it would be a waste. But as her tech studies advanced, he had finally broken down. She was glad of it now. Pictures and videos of her friends and family, music from the mid twentieth and early twenty first centuries that her father had gotten her attached to, and so many more memories were held within it. After all her other losses, she wasn't sure if she could handle one more. The memories it contained were now priceless.

Finally, she mussed her hair around with the towel to pull the worst of the dampness out and grabbed her brush to run through it before dropping it also into her pack. She stared at the pistol that lay on her bed, nibbling on her bottom lip before she picked it up and slid it into the back of her belt. Anything that could help she would use.

Isabel grabbed her pack and threw it over her shoulder before she headed downstairs to the kitchen, careful to avoid looking at her parents. She snatched a few bottles of water from the pantry, drinking one as she placed the others in the top of the pack. As more shots were fired in the distance, Isabel jumped. They were too close again, and she still had one thing to do. Taking a bowl from the counter, she quickly dumped some fresh fruit out of it into the backpack. There was no more time. Setting the pack down for the moment, Isabel ran back to the cellar to grab some generator fuel that had been stored there, along with her father's shotgun and every thermal clip she could find. She set her father's shotgun with her pack, stuffed some thermal clips into her belt and threw the rest into her pack before closing it up. Isabel snatched up the fuel container and started to dump it through the downstairs, then grabbed two boxes of matches and all the kitchen towels she could find. The towels were used as a form of tinder and as lit, were thrown onto the fuel. Once she was sure that it would stay lit, Isabel grabbed her pack, her father's shotgun, and ran.

When she found herself about where she had left the wooded area the first time, she went just a little further in and climbed a sturdy tree that would keep her concealed. She would wait for darkness before she headed back to town. If help came, she was sure that was where she would find it.

**Author****s note:** Just wanted to give a much deserved thank you to Biff McLaughlin for her wonderful beta! Thanks for the alerts/fav and Thanks to Zevgirl for her input also!


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